In this scenario, I think she would definitely have given something to her niece Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein as well. They were very close.

Yes, I agree. If my theory is correct, then all the descendents of Josephine Charlotte and Albert as well as the Spanish relatives might have received some more or less small memento of Queen Fabiola. Maybe not necessarily jewels for everybody, but other artefacts as well. And even for the jewels we might never know, as many of these persons lead a life away from the spotlights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

How do you know? Maybe Claire would have loved big whoppers with glittering diamonds as well.... She just had to wear what was available for her, and that were small poor quality diadems. It says nothing about her personal preference.

Claire seems to have stopped wearing her small wedding tiara when she had access to the larger pearl and diamond tiara. So that indicates that she has no personal preferance for small tiaras.

Does anybody know when Queen Fabiola has worn the Wolfers necklace/tiara for the last time?

Does anybody know when Queen Fabiola has worn the Wolfers necklace/tiara for the last time?

I think it was at the State Visit to the Netherlands in 1993 only short before the death of King Baudouin. She never wire it as a widow. The only 2 times she wore a tiara as widow where at the State Visits from Spain and Sweden.

Thank you, I was pretty convinced that she hadn't worn it as tiara since she became a widow. But I thought she might have worn it as a necklace.

I would love to see the tiara one day on the Duchess of Brabant and I would hate to see it in an auction catalogue. The family deperately needs some more heirloom jewels. For generations jewels were lost because of this or that: theft, sale etc. To see all the jewels of this Queen also leaving the family would break my heart.

We all hope the same.
As the relationship between Queen Mathilde and Queen Paola is that bad, I am sure the deco tiara will go to Princess Astrid and her daugthers and the small two ones to Princess Claire and her daughter

Would be great if she at lest gifted her 2 tiaras to Philippe. The belgian royal family need more tiaras and i don't think she didn't left anything at all to him as they was like Mother and son. But I'm afraid her tiaras are gone. And i don't think Philippe expects anything from his Mother as their relationship is or has been below freezing point for most of their life

There's a state visit to China scheduled for the first half of 2015. And the 2nd destination for 2015 will be Poland. Somehow I doubt we will see Fabiola's jewels there though. Don't think they are keen on inheritance discussions for their first outgoing state visit.

Afaik the State Visits to China are not tiara events, the dress code is very low key. And Poland seems to have black tie as the dress code for their state dinners. Many Queens through in a small tiara for such black tie state dinners (Maxima even wore the ruby peacock tiara in Poland). But the Belgium royals usually go low key, so that I don't see a chance for Mathilde stunnig us with one of Fabiola's tiaras. Even it the Wolfers is small, it might mor attention to the jewels than is wanted.

Maybe we will have to wait till there's a State Visit to or from a Monarch who had a personal relation with Fabiola?

Claire seems to have stopped wearing her small wedding tiara when she had access to the larger pearl and diamond tiara. So that indicates that she has no personal preferance for small tiaras.

Does anybody know when Queen Fabiola has worn the Wolfers necklace/tiara for the last time?

That second "diadem" is one of the most awful ones I have ever seen. Look how stained the frame is, how dirty the diamonds (?) are and look how the (most likely fake) pearls have been halved and glued to the frame with Pattex 1-2-3 glue: see picture. Also look how amateurish the monture has been added (the shiny metal band behind the frame). A good jeweller would never show the monture so poorly. It would be an eternal shame if Princess Claire's much better wedding diadem has been changed for this one...

The last time Queen Fabiola wore the Wolfers collier as a diadem was during a black-tie banquet in the War Council Chamber of the Royal Palace Amsterdam, in 1993. See picture.

Correct, see picture. I have the idea that Queen Mathilde is more glamorous than the elderly ladies which was Queen Fabiola and is Queen Paola. It would not surprise me to see her in grand jewels in the ancestral land of her mother (born a Countess Komorowska, related to President Komorowski).

That means a Foundation has been established as "the Crown" as such is not a legal body. Usually with that phrase is meant: the King and the ministers.

When Queen Fabiola would have established a Foundation for her jewels, then this would have been known now because Foundations are registered in public records.

Actually there is allready something like a Foundation: The Royal Trust, founded by Leopold II and owner of most palaces and castles of the BRF

In the dutch Wiki page is mentioned that the Royals can decide to add private property to this trust.
Queen Paola gave the jewelry she received from Kabila to the Royal Trust after a polemic about wether or not she should accept jewelry from a contoversial president.

But if Fabiola gave her jewels to this trust, I don't know if they would communicate about it.

Afaik the State Visits to China are not tiara events, the dress code is very low key. And Poland seems to have black tie as the dress code for their state dinners. Many Queens through in a small tiara for such black tie state dinners (Maxima even wore the ruby peacock tiara in Poland). But the Belgium royals usually go low key, so that I don't see a chance for Mathilde stunnig us with one of Fabiola's tiaras. Even it the Wolfers is small, it might mor attention to the jewels than is wanted.

Maybe we will have to wait till there's a State Visit to or from a Monarch who had a personal relation with Fabiola?

Lets hope there will be soon State Visits to other monarchies like Sweden, Denmark etc. My guess is that we then will see Mathilde in bigger Jewels.

Claire seems to have stopped wearing her small wedding tiara when she had access to the larger pearl and diamond tiara. So that indicates that she has no personal preferance for small tiaras.

Does anybody know when Queen Fabiola has worn the Wolfers necklace/tiara for the last time?

this is hilarious to me. Both of her tiaras are small. I don't get the feeling Claire is a very showy, in terms of jewelry, type of person and so the small tiaras work best for her. I'm sure that if she wanted something bigger, her second tiara would have been bigger. Yes, it is slightly bigger than her first tiara, but it's still a small tiara.

Although now that I think about it, Claire doesn't really have the hair for the Wolfers.

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Actually there is allready something like a Foundation: The Royal Trust, founded by Leopold II and owner of most palaces and castles of the BRF

In the dutch Wiki page is mentioned that the Royals can decide to add private property to this trust.
Queen Paola gave the jewelry she received from Kabila to the Royal Trust after a polemic about wether or not she should accept jewelry from a contoversial president.

But if Fabiola gave her jewels to this trust, I don't know if they would communicate about it.

It is not the same as the Orange-Nassau or Bernadotte Foundations. The Koninklijke Schenking/Donation Royale was a gift to the State of Belgium with conditions for certain parts: that they remain for royal use etc. The properties of the Koninklijke Schenking/Donation Royale however are owned by the State of Belgium and administered as a separate body.

The various foundations set up by the Orange-Nassaus and the Bernadottes are real "family foundations": private items were placed into the ownership of legal entities (foundations, trusts) for the benefit and the usufruct of the members of the two royal families. In board of such a Foundation can decide to dissolve the Foundation, for an example because the aim of the Foundation is no longer deemed necessary. Such a dissolve is not possible with the gift of Leopold II.

Queen Paola donated jewels to the Koninklijke Schenking/Donation Royale but these were considered a "poisoned gift" from Madame Kabila, the wife of the President of Congo. The State found it "not desirable" that Queen Paola kept the "blood diamonds set". So she placed it "on distance". Hopefully in a couple of years Queen Mathilde will wear these but seeing the colonial past with the Congo, it will probably remain marred with controversy.

So putting the jewels into the royal trust would also avoid new controversy about inheritance tax.

It is sad that the Belgian politicians and media (and public) always explain it to the negative: "Tax avoiding!" and not to the positive: "Luckily historic patrimonium will be preserved for generations to come..."